Hurricane Sandy may pummel the mid-Atlantic coast early next week, possibly carving out multiple niches in U.S. weather history while producing what could easily be billions of dollars in damage.

First in the queue for the NCAR-Wyoming Yellowstone system is a set of 11 computing-intensive projects tackling major problems in Earth and atmospheric science.

The United States faces more varied weather risks than most nations on Earth, but we also have uniquely strong capabilities to confront these risks, thanks to decades of research conducted by government agencies, universities, and the private weather industry.

Researchers at NCAR are working with forecasters and emergency managers to unravel the communication challenges around hurricanes like Isaac, which had relatively weak winds but a strong storm surge.

Accounting for clouds in weather forecasting could greatly improve road safety.